Newsletter: VC Breakfast Club

/espresso

• /deeptech - Oxford Quantum Circuits and Arm navigate capital access and global competition in AI, quantum, and semiconductor innovation.

• /sustainability - Mimicrete (self-healing concrete), Cambridge Electric Cement, and RemePhy (soil phytoremediation) drive next-gen materials, clean energy, and infrastructure resilience.

• /fintech - Fimple (£9.6M) and Semeris (€4M) expand AI-powered finance, core banking and structured finance markets.

/raising (?)

Are you raising? Founders, let me know over here.

/deals

💸 London-based IONATE secured €16.3M to scale its AI-driven smart grid technology. Backed by AlbionVC, it aims to modernize electricity grids with hybrid intelligent transformers and AI-powered software, improving efficiency and grid stability globally.

⚕️ Oxford Cancer Analytics (OXcan) secured an $11M Series A to advance AI-powered lung cancer detection. Taylor Wessing advised OXcan on the deal, supporting its mission to scale minimally invasive liquid biopsy blood tests globally.

📈 London and Istanbul-based Fimple raised £9.6M Series A led by DN Capital and Smartfin to expand its cloud-native core banking platform into MENA and CIS markets, offering Sharia-compliant finance and next-gen banking solutions.

⛽ Oxford alum Stephen Beaton’s Circularity Fuels secured $4.9M in grants to develop methane-based e-fuels and lab-grown diamonds, leveraging a high-efficiency reactor to cut energy use by 40% compared to existing CO₂-to-fuel technologies.

⭐ Astral Systems raised £4.5M+ seed led by Silicon Roundabout Ventures, Speedinvest, Playfair, and top angels, tackling medical isotope shortages with NASA-inspired Lattice Confinement Fusion—delivering high-flux, low-cost neutron production for cancer treatment.

📄 London-based Semeris raised €4M led by Puma Growth Partners to scale its AI-powered structured finance platform. Founded by former JPMorgan and Verba execs, it streamlines legal document analysis, reducing turnaround times and enhancing financial workflows.

☀️ Imperial College spinout RemePhy uses plant-based phytoremediation to tackle global soil contamination and extract critical minerals. Backed by Cambridge Future Tech, it offers a sustainable solution for land restoration, agriculture, and clean energy supply chains.

/funds

Berlin, London, and Stockholm-based Cherry Ventures raised $500M for early-stage and Series B+ investments, aiming to back Europe’s first trillion-dollar company amid growing global competition from the US and China in AI and tech innovation.

/tech

• Cambridge spinouts are driving concrete innovation. Mimicrete develops self-healing railway sleepers with polymer-based tubing, while Cambridge Electric Cement raised £2.5M to industrialize low-carbon recycled cement, transforming construction sustainability.

• Oxford Quantum Circuits (backed by Oxford Science Enterprises), in collaboration with IBM and Oxford Economics, released a report estimating quantum computing could boost UK productivity by 7% and add £200B to the economy by 2045.

• Oxford-founded Youni has grown to 17,000 users, 350 organizers, and £160K in ticket sales, aiming to connect students through an event-first social platform. I love community models going after authentic engagement - with low fees and society sponsorships, can it sustain its mission-driven model.

/flywheel

• Cambridge-based Arm posted a cautious revenue forecast, fueling concerns over an AI slowdown. Despite strong earnings, uncertainty looms as Arm expands into AI chips and data centers while SoftBank explores acquiring Ampere Computing.

• Elizabeth Parker from NatWest Accelerator is seeking London-based founders raising their first round. Offering fundraising support—DM or tag founders ready to pitch!

• Wilbe’s Scientists First Mixer & Lunch (Feb 11, Oxford) brings together Oxford-based scientist founders and Wilbe Fellows for networking and a fireside chat on deeptech innovation. Open to PhDs, postdocs, PIs, and engineers. Register here.

• The UK risks becoming an ‘incubator economy’ as AI and creative tech startups struggle to scale, warns a House of Lords report. MJ thinks we already are. Capital access, talent shortages, and fragmented government support… streamlining funding and fostering growth are urgent.

/breakfast

• 12 rising stars in Cambridge VC

• Can the UK compete on AI?

• Female founders face a funding gap; what Universities can do about it

📸 /techbrunch

Every week I use Midjourney to reimagine a TechCrunch story from the week.

This week, Figure AI, the Bay Area-based robotics startup, is ditching OpenAI to develop its own AI models, citing a “major breakthrough” in embodied intelligence. With $1.5B raised, Figure aims to commercialize humanoid robots, securing partnerships with BMW and expanding its proprietary hardware-software ecosystem for industrial and residential automation.

My bet is they’ve solved for hallucinating models which is a bit sad really, I always thought It’d be nice if robots could dream.

• Caption this in comments?